Matt Harris
CSM’s Solid Brass Ensemble Welcomes Area High Schools
CSM Presents 12th Annual Jazz Festival, April 17-18
The College of Southern Maryland’s 12th Annual Jazz Festival will give area high school jazz bands a chance to sharpen their skills at the big band clinic held from 9 a.m. to noon, April 17, at the La Plata Campus, Fine Arts Center. World-renowned clinician and composer Matt Harris will rehearse with each band and critique their performances as part of Friday’s clinic.
A resident of Los Angeles, Harris has played with many diverse musicians, including jazz legends Bobby Shew, Bob Summers, Carl Saunders and Chuck Findley, as well as drum legends Neil Peart, Chad Smith, Terry Bozzio and Peter Erskine. He has been commissioned to write music for bands from Denmark, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, China and Turkey.
Harris has recorded six albums of original music with the trios Snap Crackle, and Bellavino Blues, and has arranged numerous
Randy Runyon
jingles for Taco Bell, Home Depot, Jack in the Box, Ford Motor Company, Marriott Hotels and Charles Schwab. He serves as director of jazz studies at California State University Northridge.
The festival continues with evening performances, beginning at 8 p.m., April 17, with the Randy Runyon Trio, of Randy Runyon Jr. on guitar, Zak Croxall on bass and Tom Hartman on drums. At 8 p.m., April 18, Harris performs with the North Point High School Jazz Ensemble, CSM’s Solid Brass Big Band Ensemble directed by Randy Runyon Sr. and the Randy Runyon Trio.
A former resident of La Plata, Runyon Jr. began playing guitar at age 11. He released his debut album, “Arrival” in 2006. The recording features compositions by Miles Davis, Carl Filipiak, Thelonious Monk and Wayne Shorter. Three years later, he released “Randy Runyon Animal Zoo,” a collection of all original compositions that combine jazz, funk, R&B, hip-hop, rock, classical and psychedelic elements.
He performs in a Brooklyn-based indie band, The Karma Exchange, with Runyon Jr. on guitar and vocals, Croxall on bass and Devin Collins on drums. The band has released two full-length albums and one extended play.
For information, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99IPvCE8Cs or www.csmd.edu/Arts/; for tickets, contact bxoffc@csmd.edu or 301-934-7828.